ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the use of Computer Assisted Instruction in public secondary schools in Kirinyaga County. The study was guided by the following objectives: to establish the availability of computers in schools; to examine accessibility of computers for use by the teachers and students; to ascertain the extent of knowledge and skills on the use of computers by both the teachers and the students; to determine teachers and students’ perception towards the use of CAI in teaching and learning; to establish whether the use of CAI has support from the Ministry of Education, parents and the private organizations and to assess the demand versus supply of computers in the schools. The study was guided by Bates’ ACTIONS model. The study employed descriptive study design targeting principals, teachers and students in all the 105 public secondary schools in Kirinyaga County. Stratified sampling was used to classify the schools in strata of: ‘public day’ and ‘public boarding’. Purposive sampling was used to select Five (5) schools from the public day category and six (6) from the public boarding category making a total of eleven (11) schools. Questionnaires were used to collect data from teachers and students while an interview schedule was used to conduct face- to-face interview with the principals. The researcher also recorded various aspects of CAI in an observation checklist. Quantitative data collected was coded and entered into an SPSS programme for statistical analysis and the findings were presented using frequency distribution tables, bar graphs and pie charts. The study established that computers were available in all the sampled public secondary schools in Kirinyaga County although they were inadequate to support CAI use. Other resources available in these schools were: LCD projectors, DVDs/VCDs, Flash discs, CD ROMs and internet access. The study further revealed that teachers and students had average skills on computer use and that at least 72.8% of the teachers had training in computer packages. The study also showed that teachers appreciated the importance of CAI in their teaching and learning. It emerged from the study that the schools administration and the ministry of education supported the training of teachers on CAI. There was however no such support offered by the private sector. The study recommends that; the Board of Management in schools should develop programmes through the parents associations to equip schools with more computers and other CAI resources in order to make CAI teaching and learning easier; the government through the ministry of education should organize in-service training for teachers in order to equip them with expertise skills and knowledge and build their confidence with ICT tools; the private sector should support CAI in schools as part of their corporate social responsibility. The Parents’ Associations (PA) should organize a PA fund to equip their schools with more computers; the study also suggested that the Teachers Service Commission recruits more teachers professionally trained in computer use to facilitate in CAI teaching and learning.